ARMENIA HAS PRECISE SATELLITE STATIONS
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
18/05/2006
CIS Geodesists Gather in Yerevan
Armenia is one of the few CIS states that has joined the World
Coordinate System and its satellite station-based data doesn’t surpass
the limit of 1 sm.
Manuk Vardanian, chairman of Real Estate Cadastre Committee, informed
the journalists about this in the course of the 24th sitting of the
CIS Interstate Council of Geodesy and Cadastre, on May 16.
Cadastre specialists from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova,
Georgia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan participated in the sitting. The
sitting will last three days. It is envisaged that the specialists
will discuss the issues of standards and measure systems, as well as
application of common model of satellite system.
Vardanian said that Armenia has fully implemented the commitments
undertaken in the course of the previous sitting. At present, the
geodesic calculations are being carried out in Armenia. This means that
at present, Armenia is quite capable of making its own maps, instead of
ordering them abroad. Vardanian also suggested elaborating the Internet
site of the Interstate Council to provide the specialists with relevant
information. The participants of the sitting accepted his suggestion.

PRO-GOVERNMENT TV SLAMS AZERI NGOS FOR “PRO-ARMENIAN” FILMS SHOWN IN BRITAIN
Mahsati Seyidzada, Cavid Aliyev, Lider TV.
Lider TV, Baku
17 May 06
[Presenter] A project on the Armenia-Azerbaijan-Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict prepared by a UK university has caused a scandal. Under the
project, six films on the realities of the Karabakh war were shown to
students. Three of them were from Armenia while the rest were shown
as Azerbaijani films. However, after the demonstration of the films,
it emerged that they were all pro-Armenian.
[Correspondent] It is outrageous that some people are keen on showing
the West and Europe that neither the Xocali tragedy [on 26 February
1992 massacre of Azerbaijanis in Karabakh] nor other Armenian
atrocities had happened in Azerbaijan. Do Azerbaijanis really want
to live side-by-side with Armenians?
[Unidentified man] Under no circumstances can we accept compromises
with them. They can call us their friends today, but tomorrow they
will again start doing what they have been doing for many years.
[Unidentified woman] I am not aware of the terms under which we can
be able to establish ties with them.
[Correspondent] The point in question is that the films shot by
local NGOs meet the interests of Armenian propaganda. The Azerbaijani
minister of culture and tourism is also unaware of the films shown
at the British university.
[Abulfaz Qarayev, minister of culture and tourism] I did not sanction
or shoot those films, and therefore, the ministry is not responsible
for them. We are unaware of them.
[Correspondent] The films shown unbeknown to the government do not
reveal the truth about Karabakh. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
has pledged to react to Armenian propaganda by stepping up its own
propaganda.
[Matin Mirza, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry] It is a fact that
the films are biased and meet the interests of other people.
Actually, those people, even if they are Azerbaijanis, cannot be
regarded as Azerbaijanis if they do not express their sympathy with
their homeland. We shall respond to this type of propaganda with our
own propaganda.
[Correspondent] Matin Mirza added that the attitudes of journalists
visiting Azerbaijan should also be studied in order to prevent
such cases.

KOCHARIAN INDICATES NEED TO ADVANCE COOPERATION WITH ARAB COUNTRIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2006 13:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kuwaiti newly appointed Ambassador Ra Majdi Ahmad
Ibrahim Al Dafirii (residence in Teheran) presented credentials
to the Armenian President Robert Kocharian today, reports the
Press Service of the Armenian leader. During the meeting Kocharian
emphasized the need to expand cooperation with Arab states, specially
emphasizing the role of Kuwait. Touching upon the question of bilateral
relations, the parties noted the available potential of development of
cooperation. From the point of view of development of economic ties
the interlocutors emphasized the completion of the legal framework
as a priority. The diplomat presented the situation in Kuwait and
regional developments to President Kocharian.

AZERBAIJANI INTERFERENCE CAUSED CHANGE OF SHUSHA’S NAME IN ARMENIAN VARIANT IN CE RECOMMENDATIONS
Today, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
Next meeting of Paris Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe
(PACE) on science, education, culture committee held on May 17-18
in Paris.
Azerbaijani delegation member participating in PACE Rafael Huseynov
has informed APA in his statement that two significant issues for
Azerbaijan have been discussed in the meeting.
Rafael Hasanov taking part in the discussion of rapporteur O’Hara from
Great Britain on cultural monuments’ situation in the South Caucasus,
to the region, said that several times a problem was raised in PACE
on Armenian aggression against Azerbaijani Cultural Heritage.
“It was decided on the base of documents prepared on historical
monuments in Nakhchivan claimed to be Armenian graves and on
the Azerbaijani cultural monuments condition in Armenia, expert
group headed by O’Hara will visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia,
investigate the situation of Cultural Heritage in the South Caucasus.”
Rafael Huseynov said that the mission will pay a visit to Azerbaijan
on May 28.
Firstly, he will visit Nakhchivan, then Georgia where Armenia and
Azerbaijani Cultural Heritage will be investigated. The next visit
will be to Armenia. The mission will pay a visit to Nagorno Karabakh
after investigating Azerbaijani and Georgia cultural monuments in
Armenia. The visit will end on June 4.
Rafael Huseynov said the mission will visit Shusha: “I have prepared
three documents on the cultural Heritage in Shusha. It is indicated
in the recommendation of Council of Europe investigations will be
conducted on the base of these documents in Shusha. In the document
on a visit to Shusha the word Shushi was written in the bracket,
that I rejected it saying that it’s name in the map is Shusha, after
that they corrected this mistake. Besides it there was indicated that
Armenian graves will be investigated in Nakhchivan visit, I told them
that Azerbaijani science of history has proved these graves to be Alban
graves. Islamic religion spread since IX centuries in Azerbaijan. Until
that period, different religion as well as Christians existed in
Azerbaijan. And now Armenians want to inherit those monuments. After
my rejection this item also was excluded from the document.”
URL:

ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY TURKEY ADDRESSED TO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2006 15:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discussion of the opportunity to attain recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey by appealing to the International
Criminal Tribunal was the main issue on the agenda of the Yerevan
session of the Expert Commission on Genocide. “The issue of
responsibility for the crime based on a legal procedure or arbitration
is submitted for consideration at the level of experts. Thus Commission
members will have to discuss the document and clearly determine
their attitude to that extremely imprint and responsible matter,”
says a news release provided to PanARMENIAN.Net.
The Expert Commission includes well-known scholars from Armenia,
Russia, US, Germany, Israel and Austria.

AZERI, BRITISH STUDENTS PROTEST AT LOP-SIDED KARABAKH FILMS
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
A series of films on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno
Karabakh screened in a British educational institution have stirred
a scandal.
According to AssA-Irada, the tension escalated after an influential
London-based university held an event on Tuesday dedicated to the
causes underlying the long-standing dispute and ways of solving it.
The attending Azeri, Armenian and European students were presented
with six films featuring the Karabakh war.
Half of the movies screened were acquired from Armenia and
the other three were presented as films directed by Azerbaijani
cinematographers. However, after the films were shown, it turned out
that all of them served Armenian interests.
The films authored by Armenians featured gruesome developments
and showed Azeri soldiers allegedly committing atrocities against
Armenians.
The films shot by Azerbaijanis, on the contrary, portrayed humanism
and tolerance of Azerbaijanis toward Armenians. It is astounding that
these films did not feature the devastated Azeri towns and villages,
destroyed historical monuments and mosques, as well as the vicious
Khojaly massacre committed by Armenians, and just showed the occupied
territories.
The Armenian-authored presentations described the development of
Karabakh and its forging ties with Europe.
Azerbaijani students, joined by their British classmates, protested at
the injustice. They further appealed to the university administration,
saying the films were one-sided and served propaganda purposes.
Nagorno Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, has both Azeri and ethnic Armenian population. It was
occupied by Armenia in early 1990s, along with seven other Azerbaijani
districts, after large-scale hostilities that killed up to 30,000
people and forced over a million Azeris out of their homes.
The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been
fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.

TURKEY FEELING EU HEAT
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
May 18 2006
A row between Paris and Ankara over the massacre of Armenians in 1915
is threatening to increase anti EU resentment in Turkey.
A controversial law making it a crime to deny the alleged Armenian
genocide by Turkish troops over 90 years ago has been dramatically
postponed by the French Parliament.
Ankara has always denied accusations of genocide and has threatened
Paris with trade sanctions if the law is adopted.
French MEPs are also divided with many seeing the move as an
“unfriendly gesture” against the Turkish people.
“Our patience has limits” said Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, “we will not have hate but we will impose sanctions”.
France, where more than 400,000 Armenians live, passed a law officially
recognising the Armenian genocide in 2001.
Armenia alleges that 1.5 million Armenians were systematically deported
and killed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, in 1915.
The controversy threatens to increase already strained EU membership
talks.
EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn made it clear on Wednesday
that Ankara had to speed up reforms; otherwise Turkey would face a
“train crash” in EU membership talks.
“It is necessary that the Turkish government takes immediate action
to restart the momentum of reforms in the country,” said Rehn.
Ankara is also feeling the heat over its unyielding position over
Cyprus.
Finland, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency on July 1,
called on Ankara on to embrace an agreement broadening the customs
union that links the EU and Turkey to the island.
Turkish historian Halil Berktay, one of the first Turks to openly speak
out against Ankara’s official version of the Armenians mass murders,
has warned that the French legislation may increase anti-European
feelings in Turkey.
“That law would be a direct message to the Turkish government to
get rid of its European outfits” the historian told French newspaper
Le Monde.
Brussels favours “reconciliation” on the Armenian issue , but the
European parliament voted in 2005 for a non binding resolution blocking
EU membership if Ankara refused to recognise the genocide.
/360874b3-d3d1-41de-9161-c0af9ecd73cb.htm

ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OWING TO POLITICAL REASONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2006 16:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The people and society of Israel recognize the
Armenian Genocide . However, the question is not raised at the
level of the Government, Executive Director of the Institute on
the Holocaust and Genocide, Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of
Genocide, Psychology Professor Israel Charny stated in a conversation
with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, at the state level
only former Minister of Culture of Israel Yossi Sarid recognized the
Armenian Genocide.
“There are three people in our state, who openly speak of the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. These are Professor Yair Auron, Yossi Sarid
and I. All others keep silent due to political considerations. Israel
is in an Islamic circle and most importantly it depends on Turkey in
water supplies. Proceeding from this the Israeli Government is silent
on the events in 1915.
Though Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger visited Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial in Yerevan and in fact recognized the tragedy in 1915 as
a genocide, which is a good precedent. The chief rabbi has much
influence, but he does not represent the Israeli Government,” Charny
underscored.
The Israeli scholar also remarked that for a crime committed it
is not important when it was committed and against whom. “Genocide
is a genocide: whether it is 1915, Holocaust, annihilation of Gypsy
population in Hitler Germany, Darfur, Rwanda. I always ask: why people
recognize Holocaust and keep silent on the Armenian Genocide?” he said.
As of addressing the International Criminal Tribunal, Charny believes
“it is a game.” In his opinion, only Europe is able to make Turkey
recognize the Genocide.
“If Turks really want accession to the EU, they should recognize the
Armenian Genocide. This is one of compulsory conditions,” Executive
Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide underscored.

ENVOY SAYS CONFLICTS AFFECT EU ENLARGEMENT
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
The European Union “big three” (Germany, Britain and France) has
analyzed the results of its representatives’ recent visit to the South
Caucasus and issued specific recommendations to all regional states,
the EU special envoy in Azerbaijan, Alan Adams, said.
Adams called on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to step up efforts to
resolve the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict. He added that the EU
was in favor of concessions in line with the Geneva Convention on
territorial integrity. With regard to the impact of the long-standing
dispute, the ambassador said its unresolved status was affecting the
process of the EU enlargement.
He said only after the existing conflicts have been resolved will
it be possible to speak of effective regional cooperation. “From
this standpoint, solution to the Garabagh conflict represents special
importance to the EU,” Adams told journalists. Adams said the National
Action Plan being prepared by Azerbaijan and the European Union as
part of the European New Neighborhood Policy will be approved in the
coming two months. The diplomat said the plan would identify specific
areas of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
“This will open up a new area of political and economic cooperation.”
Adams said the 25-member union intends to implement a number of
projects in the S. Caucasus. The projects will serve the enforcement
of assumed commitments, while those scheduled for 2006 mainly cover
regional development, social and economic reforms, he added.

ISRAEL W.CHARNY: I HAVE BEEN ALWAYS STRUGGLING AGAINST POSITION OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IN ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 18 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “The Israeli society
knows about the Armenian Genocide, recognizes it, a different matter
is the attitude of the Israeli government to this fact. I consider its
position wrong, treat it critically and regret as a Jew. I have been
always struggling against such a position,” Israel W. Charny, Executive
Director of the Institute of Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem,
President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars,
declared to the journalists. According to him, there is “small success”
in the respect of recognition of the Armenian Genocide: two members
of the former Israeli government declared about the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide but this was immediately followed by an
answer from the government that these two ministers are speaking on
behalf of themselves. “The main reason of Israel’s not recognizing
the Armenian Genocide is that our government thinks just like my
father. My father was a Jew from Europe, he lost the most part of his
family during the Holocaust and he was saying that only Jews should
be taken care of. In my opinion, this attitude is understandable but
wrong,” I.Charny declared. According to him, the Israeli government
declares that Israel needs Turkey, Turkey is a mighty neighbor, with
which they should develop military cooperation, Israel needs Turkey
as an Islamic country, with which Israel is on good terms, which,
as the Israeli scholar mentioned, is a truth. In response to Noyan
Tapan correspondent’s question, whether the statement of the chief
rabbi about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide can be a step
towards progress in the issue of recognition of the Genocide in Israel,
I.Charny said: “Yes, the chief rabbi is an official person but he is
not a member of the government. If the President of Israel declared
this, it would be fine. I think the statement of the chief rabbi was
great and of cource, it is very important”. He regretted to say that
many Jews refuse to recognize the victims of Nazism who were not Jews:
“These were Gipsies, non-full-value children who were killed by Nazis
still before the Holocaust and Soviet war prisoners who were burnt
in the same crematoriums where Jews were burnt.
But the Armenians also demonstrate the same stinginess when they do
not want to mention Greeks and Assyrians among the victims of the
Genocide,” I.Charny declared. As for the position of the Turkish
society in the issue of recognition of the Genocide, I.Charny noted
that today the number of people daring to speak about the Genocide is
growing in Turkey. As he estimated, these are really brave people. In
its turn, the Turkish government is striving for showing the first
signs that it is able to hear such a position.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress